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Welcome to The Curmudgeon’s lair

Welcome to my curmudgeondom. As you’ll soon learn, your reactions to my missives here are likely to range from fear to loathing to tears to outright rage—and I just might even evoke from you an occasional sober nod or two.

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The purpose of this blog is simple: to provide me a vehicle for sounding-off on whatever topic suits me at the moment. While there’s sure to be no shortage of politically-oriented palaver here, it is by no means all (nor necessarily even most) of what will be proffered to your discerning mind. You’ll also find that my personal politics, ethics, morals, and standards are pretty much “all over the map” (according to my mother-in-law)—so, don’t be surprised to see rants regarding, say, the interference of churches in politics, politically-correct anything, “nanny” laws, taxes, the United Nations, Congress, the Commissioner of Baseball, the State of Ohio’s speed limits, steroids, Jesse Jackson, the “mainstream” media, ultra-liberals, ultra-conservatives, the price of cigarettes, Obamarxism, regulating sales of alcohol, gasoline price manipulation, Muslim foot baths, illegal immigration, laws banning the sale of adult sex toys, cell phones, heavy-handed cops, meddlesome politicians, Hillary, Billary, our all-but-self-proclaimed uncrowned Queen Nancy, “W”, eminent domain, freedom of speech, and the designated hitter all in succession. It is, as I said, my curmudgeondom — and I have the credentials and bona fides to lay claim to the title of The Curmudgeon. So, there.

Some of the postings you'll encounter may seem familiar—especially to those who know me personally. By way of explanation… I once had an ongoing relationship with a local newspaper, and had a number of published opinion pieces—some of which may be posted here. My arrangement was for a feature entitled An Opposing View; given that the editorial staff had a generally liberal, left-of-center view, it stands to reason that my "opposing" view would generally be perceived as coming from the right (in more ways than one, in my own humble opinion). These posts will be annotated as having been previously published.

Comments, of course, are always welcome. You may agree or disagree with me. Doesn’t matter. Of course, I reserve the right to completely ignore you — but, feel free to let your feelings be known, anyway. And if you don't want to comment directly here, my e-mail address is: jimseeber@gmail.com .

Oh, and…yes, I can spell. That "Write-wing" is only a play on words. So, there. Again.

Prodigal President Soundly Spanked

Shortly after his inauguration, Barack Obama fired-off a few terse comments at Republicans: “Elections have consequences”…”That’s why we have elections”…and (my personal favorite) “I won.”

Having thus spake, he made clear far in advance that he now knows what to expect in the wake of yesterday’s election debacle.

As Joe Biden might put it: This is a big f– – – – – g deal.

Not as big as Republicans (and sensible voters everywhere) had hoped for—but still big. Very big.

The message sent to the Obama regime (sent—but not likely to be well-received) was clear: We ain’t happy—and you’re to blame. It was a repudiation of Obama’s agenda, with scores of Democrat whipping-boys bearing the brunt of the voters’ wrath. The numbers clearly show voter disapproval of ObamaCare and cap-and-trade. Had the Democrats been pushing weak candidates, the message might’ve been less concise; however, many longtime incumbent Democrats were sent packing—and those who backed Obama’s unpopular policies fared the worst. Obama himself suddenly seems about as embraceable as plutonium, and survival-minded Democrats appear to have been prescient in distancing themselves from him during the weeks preceding the election. Indeed, Obama’s intense campaigning seems to have been ineffective (if not harmful) in most key races; those nine trips he took to Ohio attempting to bolster relatively popular Governor Ted Strickland, for example, became instead an embarrassment as John Kasich won a close contest that many see as a bellwether.

That’s gotta hurt.

Nor could this be seen as merely a reactionary “throw the incumbents out” election, as incumbent Republicans in fact enjoyed widespread success. Moreover, Republicans fared well in contests for open seats both in Congress and in a record number of gubernatorial contests. Those two indicators pretty well establish this as more of a “throw the Democrats out” election.

Where does this leave us?

Well, the Republicans captured solid control of the House of Representatives, and the Democrats’ hold on the Senate is now tenuous. The Democrats’ majority is a slim one, and there’s much doubt as to how many of their “majority” will toe the party line; in particular, their most high-profile victor of this election — Joe Manchin of West Virginia — is seen by many as more of a Republican than many Republicans are, having already denounced both ObamaCare and cap-and-trade. Moreover, Democrats in both houses who survived the massacre are now faced with re-assessing their own stands on key issues—making Congressional support of Obama’s agenda somewhat less than reliable. (With twenty Senate Democrats and only ten Republicans up for re-election in 2012, the message delivered via this 2010 election will reverberate for a long time; having had a glimpse of what may be in store for them in two years, who’s likely to drink the Obama Kool-Aid with such a likely fate awaiting?)

The Tea Party contingent played a role (much to the consternation of the Democrat leadership), but it was a mixed message. Some Tea Party-backed candidates (most notably Senator-elect Rand Paul of Kentucky) ran well, but losses by their highly-publicized candidates in Delaware (Michelle O’Donnell) and Nevada (Sharron Angle) in races that many felt should have been easy pick-ups by Republicans helped Democrats retain Senate control. (Still, it’s pleasant to visualize soon-to-be former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi choking on Astroturf.) It’s clear that Republicans need to take seriously their input, and make adjustments to party stances accordingly. The newly-elected Tea Partiers are likely to exert pressure to control spending and taxes—and the Republican leadership would be well-advised to listen.

The runaway spending has to stop. Period. If no other message came across from this election, that one has to.

The Democrats’ ever-expanding dream of an ever-expanding government must also be reined-in. The people are beyond simply being wary of government intrusion into business, finance, medicine, and (especially) into our everyday private lives.

In short: Less government is better government.

True to form, Democrats are already murmuring about the coming gerrymandering (you know: the gerrymandering that they had planned to control—but that control was largely lost with the ascension of all those Republican governors) of district lines, proving once again that they can get in that first punch ahead of Republicans with disturbing consistency. (One can only hope that Republicans will eventually learn. “Get there firstest with the mostest,” counseled Nathan Bedford Forrest—a lesson Democrats long ago embraced.) With the imminent re-apportioning of congressional seats and the inevitable re-drawing of district lines, GOP governors will be able to influence the political landscape for years to come.

And what of our favorite flagellant—the manchild-in-chief? Will he take this to heart and mend his ways?

Don’t count on it. It’s far more likely that he’ll “double down” (in the current parlance) and merely adjust the means by which he tries to force-feed us his agenda. For now, anyway. It’s doubtful that his prodigious ego will allow him to do otherwise. If Republicans have learned nothing else since the 2008 election, they should’ve at least concluded that the only way to do business with Obama is from a position of strength. They’ll have to ram their agenda down his throat—just as he has force-fed us all since his ascendancy to the White House. He’ll never play ball unless there’s a gun placed to his head.

6 Responses to “Prodigal President Soundly Spanked”

Kip Ecclestonesaid

Do you seriously think that our ” current problems” are a direct results of the Democrats?

Personaly, I am, and have been an Independent for MANY. MANY years.

Georgie(W) gave up the 1st 700 Billion. That was to bail out the auto industry.
You know those guys!! The UAW. Those folks whoe paid JANITORS 35 bucks an hour! Oh yeah, and paid the union head over a Million a yr!( I should have joined that when I retired. I’d be “rollin in bucks today”) And where did over 75% of that money go? To the “BIG WIGS” THAT’S FACT YOU CAN NOT DENY!!!

So, along come the democrats(obama in this case- hell coulda been Hillary) and they are left holdin the bag!! The auto industry have failed, Wall street has collaped and most MAJOR banks are broke!!

So now, the “Pres” and party have one of two things to do. Let them all fail( go broke) and let 150 million or so folks lose every dime they have(thus creating a bigger DEPRESSION than that of the 30s),or step in.

So, they stepped in. Gave up another 700 billion to shore up the banks. What happened? The same DAMN thing!!! The money went everywhere EXCEPT where it was intended to go.

So, in less than a year, our government, both Rep and Dems, gave away roughly 1.5 TRILLION bucks, at tax payers expense.

The big thing nowadays seem to be the “Health care” issue. I think the current “proposal” SUCKS!! However, I also think that “SOMEBODY” needs to step in and WACK the HMO’S “peters”!! This chit is gettin way outta hand

Lynne Zsaid

Any friend of Jim’s is a friend of mine, but Friend Kip apparently doesn’t get the voter-chagrin. We don’t agree with what Bush did and we sure don’t agree with Obama’s agenda. It seems to me that this election was more about reining in government, not particularly espousing a party affiliation.

On another point – I, for one, would disdain the union gravy train – “rollin in bucks” (at the expense of others) is a big part of the mess we’re currently in.

Big Government and feeding at the public trough has got to end or – as Toqueville predicted – our republic’s demise is on the horizon.

Yep. Kip and I go back a few years…thirty-plus, in fact (damn; gettin’ close to forty. Makes me feel old.). We served together in a band of recalcitrants known as the 3rd Squadron of the 5th Cavalry, 9th Infantry Division. We’ve generally seen eye-to-eye on most issues, but we do have our differences—and always have; fortunately, we both manage to keep things in perspective…thereby avoiding being at each others’ throats. Hats off to him; he’s retired Army, served with more than a little distinction. As Fate would have it, a couple California boys got thrown-together in Washington and somehow both managed to end-up in Alabama (as he noted some months back). Whodathunkit?

The problem is that Obama and his henchmen knew that before they ever came to power. Hell, they helped to create the situation (check then-Senator Obama’s voting record—and remember that Democrats gained clout in Congress before Obama moved into the White House—and far from solving problems, they’ve merely added to them. This is largely due to their insistence on furthering their own agenda.

I’ve never indicated that Republicans are blameless in this. In fact, if you peruse some of my previous posts, you’ll see that I’ve said as much on many occasions. Most recently, I reiterated that this election was more a case of voters throwing Democrats out than voting Republicans in—just as they did in reverse not so long ago.

There’s plenty of blame to spread around, to be sure. However, the simple truth is that the party in power will bear most of the voters’ wrath—and rightly so. After all, Democrats certainly haven’t used their time or power wisely. Moreover, the damage they have done…and the staggering amount of money they’ve spent (foolishly)…and their refusal to listen to the people, preferring to jam their agenda down our throats…well, let’s just say that they had it coming. And they were repeatedly warned—indications that they arrogantly chose to ignore. It’s called “comeuppance”—and I’ve never seen a dose of it so richly deserved.

Another consideration that I only briefly touched on is the constant hammering of a social agenda that has frankly scared much of the electorate. Van Jones? Mark Lloyd? Anita Dunn? Do these names ring a bell? The actions of the Obama regime smack of totalitarianism—and the people don’t like it.

The simple truth is that the party of the jackass is led by a jackass who deluded himself into believing that he could do any damn’ thing he wanted with impunity. He refused to listen. He browbeat, blackmailed, and bribed to his heart’s content.

And like any jackass, the way to get his attention is to smack him across the snout with a two-by-four.

Terry Hardinsaid

We Americans let the liberals set the tone of the debate. First warning sign is “Well everybody knows”. NO, everybody doesn’t know. Another is when a government functionary makes the statement that a tax cut will “cost the government” or “How will we pay for the tax cut?”. First it is NOT the governments money! it is OURS! Read the Constitution! The government was set up to provide for the common defense and maintain the infrastructure. All of the GIMME programs are costing BIG. It has been proven time and again if the people have their own money to work with tax revenues to the government go up quite a bit. Kennedy did it. Reagan did it and Bush was doing it until the liberals took congress in 2006. If you look at the facts/record when ever liberals (both dem and rep) get in control the country suffers.

Oil is $87+ a barrel? The U.S has HUGE reserves of oil! But the liberals try to stop drilling (see definition of a luddite). Energy prices go up EVERTHING cost more!

In MY less than humble opinion I would like to make ALL government workers from the president on down to the lowest clerk at the department of motor vehicles subject to the same medical and retirement they are trying to shovel on us.

Oh, also try to find out how much money we shovel out of the country to folks that hate our guts, Like BILLIONs of bucks a year directly and indirectly to support terrorist generating countries.

I would defund the EPA, DOJ (at least till they leave AZ alone) department of energy (they don’t generate anyting except regulations that throttle U.S. energy production), Department of education and the IRS. Just for starters. “The government that governs least governs best” RWR

Lest anyone be mistaken, I think GHWB(41) and GWB(43) were a liberals.